It’s Tuesday, July 26th - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - A couple was arrested over the weekend after police say they left their child inside of a car while they drank at the Clevelander hotel on Miami Beach.
Detectives said 33-year-old Osman Karatas and 32-year-old Sevda Karatas tried bringing the 3-year-old into the bar early Sunday morning but were turned away by security because kids aren’t allowed there. A security guard outside of the hotel flagged down a police officer after he noticed the boy, covered in sweat, sitting alone inside a vehicle with the windows rolled down, an arrest report said. The parents were found at the bar and were taken into custody after they told officers that the boy was their son. The couple was charged with child neglect with no great bodily harm and remained in jail Monday afternoon under a combined $3,000 bond.
No. 2 - Jurors in the penalty trial of the confessed Parkland school shooter got their first view Monday of the AR-15-style rifle he used to murder 17 students and staff members four years ago at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, staring intently as it was carried to the front of the courtroom.
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Lead prosecutor Mike Satz removed the black semi-automatic Smith & Wesson from a cardboard box and carried it to Broward sheriff's Sgt. Gloria Crespo, who said it was found on the landing of a third-floor stairwell. Video seen by jurors previously showed Cruz placed it there along with the black shooter's vest he had been wearing before fleeing the school. The defense objected to the weapon's introduction, saying without explanation that it lacked relevance and was unfairly prejudicial. The defense also objected to Satz placing the gun on the floor behind him in easy view of the jurors instead of placing it on an evidence table away from them. Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer rejected the objections.
No. 3 - A fired Broward Sheriff's deputy who was caught on video roughly arresting a teen in Tamarac back in 2019 was found not guilty of misdemeanor battery Monday.
A six-member Broward County jury found Christopher Krickovich not guilty after about three hours of deliberations. If convicted, Krickovich could have faced up to one year in the county jail and a $1,000 fine. Cellphone video that went viral showed Krickovich and Broward Sheriff’s Sgt. Greg LaCerra trying to subdue and arrest 15-year-old DeLucca Rolle on April 18, 2019, at Tamarac Town Square plaza, an area that was notorious for fights. The deputies were seen punching the teen and slamming his head into the pavement while the teenager resisted being handcuffed.
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No. 4 - A 67-year-old man was shot and killed last week when he was robbed by two teens near a condominium building in Coral Gables, leading to a pursuit and large police perimeter in Coconut Grove.
Now, days after the incident, Jorge Romero's wife and daughter are speaking out. Romero’s family says the beloved husband, father and handyman came to this country from Colombia to work and provide for his loved ones. His wife Erika says the last time she spoke to Romero, he gave her a kiss and said “I love you.” She never thought that would be the last time she would see him again. Romero's daughter calls him “a great man that gave everything of himself for his family.”
No. 5 - Fire rescue crews were able to put out the flames from a luxury vehicle that had crashed into a Fort Lauderdale home on Sunday.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue said the crash happened just before 3:30 p.m. in the 1100 block of Northwest 7th Avenue when the white Lamborghini SUV collided with another vehicle, then crashed into the roof of a home. “It was one chaotic scene, very chaotic," said a witness named Peter Reidel. "I thought the car was gonna blow up.” According to FLFR, the car slid off the roof after crashing, then burst into flames. Police say the occupants of the Lamborghini fled the scene prior to crews arriving. The driver of the second vehicle involved in the initial crash suffered minor injuries.
No. 6 - It was a shark catch for the books for Brett Reeder.
Reeder hooked a 5- to 6-foot lemon shark in the Keys with his family, when hooks got stuck and he started wrestling with this catch. "Crazy thing is we do it all the time," said Reeder. "It's pretty normal to be able to get the hooks out of them and I just got a little unlucky." During the tug-of-war, the shark tore into his pinky, with a real possibility it would come off. Reeder was airlifted to Jackson South. With more than a hundred stitches, a pin, and a case, doctors were able to save the finger. Click here for his wild story in a report from NBC 6’s Jamie Guirola.
